The article states, "This technique is commonly used in restaurant kitchens around the world." Well, no restaurant that I have ever been the chef in and no restaurant that I've ever eaten in. And I'm not willing to sacrifice a $50 piece of meat so I can experiment! I do all my steaks on the grill with the exception of filet mignon marchand de vin where I pan sear the filet mignons in a pan so I can make the shallot/red wine sauce in the same pan.

lleechefThe article states, "This technique is commonly used in restaurant kitchens around the world." Well, no restaurant that I have ever been the chef in and no restaurant that I've ever eaten in. And I'm not willing to sacrifice a $50 piece of meat so I can experiment! I do all my steaks on the grill with the exception of filet mignon marchand de vin where I pan sear the filet mignons in a pan so I can make the shallot/red wine sauce in the same pan.

lleechefThink Peter Lugers has time for sous vide? You could do it at home but not in a steakhouse!

Sous Vide actually makes time, saves time. Steaks are individually bagged and placed in the sous vide well before doors open. They're already at temp, order comes in, pull a bag, open, slap on grill. Speeds up order to plate as there's no possible oven time. This is normal proceedure at high end fine dining places worldwide. Plus you have complete control over the internal temp to within a single degree.

mar52A lot of the guys on the bbq boards like the reverse sear method. I understand the sous vide process but... can you have a "holding tank" for rare, medium and well and then just warm up the steak with the sear?

Yes you can, and they do. Multiple tanks. (To my understanding, just medium and rare. So few "well done" orders come in they're handled seperate.

Here is my question:Who here has run a high volume restaurant kitchen cooking steaks "backwards" or has used the sous vide "multiple tank" method of cooking steaks? I want to see your pictures! When I was chef at the Trillium at Grand Traverse Resort I went through 20 tenderloins, 10 strip loins, 8 prime ribs every, every night. In addition to Great Lakes fish and of course other dishes. Show me "multiple tanks" so I can understand this.

I doesn't make sense for a high volume steakhouse to have a holding bath of partially done meat. These places have the right broilers and seasoned grill people who can determine doneness by a quick prod. Most could probably tell by just looking at crust and shrinkage. I worked at Delmonico in New Orleans and we sold a ton of steaks. Very few were sent back. No incentive to spend major bucks on a water bath that may or may not hold all the meat to be ordered that night. At some point after I left, I think they got a sous vide to play around with but I'd be shocked if they used it for steaks.

With few exceptions, these restaurants don't serve the cuts that most benefit from sous vide. My neighbor has one and I borrowed it to do some grass-fed teres major steaks from my farmers market.. The problem I find with any cut that's grass fed is it's tendency to dry out. A rib eye might be an exception but they're pricey as hell.Anyway, into the bag goes the meat, and a small amount of both butter and soy sauce. After bringing them to a hair below medium rare, I finished them in a hot pan. I don't know how else I could have gotten that cut tender without drying it out. Larding, poaching in fat...maybe but both methods would have added other flavors (and more fat than my butter) to the final dish. I wanted to taste the beef above all and so went minimalist, Beard-approved old school.

lleechefHere is my question:Who here has run a high volume restaurant kitchen cooking steaks "backwards" or has used the sous vide "multiple tank" method of cooking steaks? I want to see your pictures! When I was chef at the Trillium at Grand Traverse Resort I went through 20 tenderloins, 10 strip loins, 8 prime ribs every, every night. In addition to Great Lakes fish and of course other dishes. Show me "multiple tanks" so I can understand this.

Yep, and we used to read at night by candlelight and then some guy named Edison invented the light bulb!" />"Embrace Technology!

mr. sausageI doesn't make sense for a high volume steakhouse to have a holding bath of partially done meat. These places have the right broilers and seasoned grill people who can determine doneness by a quick prod. Most could probably tell by just looking at crust and shrinkage. I worked at Delmonico in New Orleans and we sold a ton of steaks. Very few were sent back. No incentive to spend major bucks on a water bath that may or may not hold all the meat to be ordered that night. At some point after I left, I think they got a sous vide to play around with but I'd be shocked if they used it for steaks.

With few exceptions, these restaurants don't serve the cuts that most benefit from sous vide. My neighbor has one and I borrowed it to do some grass-fed teres major steaks from my farmers market.. The problem I find with any cut that's grass fed is it's tendency to dry out. A rib eye might be an exception but they're pricey as hell.Anyway, into the bag goes the meat, and a small amount of both butter and soy sauce. After bringing them to a hair below medium rare, I finished them in a hot pan. I don't know how else I could have gotten that cut tender without drying it out. Larding, poaching in fat...maybe but both methods would have added other flavors (and more fat than my butter) to the final dish. I wanted to taste the beef above all and so went minimalist, Beard-approved old school.

Mr sausage, I agree lean meat and dry heat don't mix. I like the Sous Vide for lean top round roasts, steaks and chops. I have some teres major steaks I'll sous vide them today or tomorrow. These cuts are from a 1/2 Angus 1/2 Hostein Steer I just processed a few weeks ago. It's not going to be as lean as grass fed although I did have him on pasture for two years. I corned him over the winter month so I should have some marbling. I'll Sous Vide them at about 124 to 126 degrees then finish in a cast iron pan............

Ringside Steakhouse is celebrating it’s 70th anniversary this month in June! This classic steakhouse has been an institution in Portland, and the Peterson family is now on its third generation of owning this award winning steak restaurant (RingSide has been recognized on America’s Top Ten Steakhouse Hall of Fame list and by DiRōNA for high quality service, and was awarded a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2002).

I know we used to use Sous Vide cooking of steaks when I worked at Marriott hotels. We made some of the best steaks in the DMV back in the day. We had a French chef that brought this style to us and we loved it.

I'd be really disappointed if I went to a top-notch traditional Steakhouse and found out they prepared my steak by sous vide. Their traditional cooking method is how they earned their reputation for fine steaks.

But I'm fine with a sous vide steak at a restaurant that is offering a diverse menu with only one or two steak offerings. We ate at a hotel restaurant recently and I was pretty sure that my flatiron steak was prepared by sous vide. It was one of the better steaks that I've been served in the last year.

Who are you snickering at? It's actually very simple.1. Buy a couple of steaks.2. Buy a bag of charcoal.3. Put the charcoal into a chimney and start it. Dump it into the grill.4. Salt and pepper the steaks and grill them.

Voila. No sous vide, no cooking backwards. How did something so SIMPLE become so complicated?